TRAVIS PUTS AWAY HIS GUN – A RUMOURS STORY
by BillA1
Summary: Synopsis: Vixen, Green Lantern, the Flash, Old Yeller, Engarde


Travis Puts Away His Gun – A RUMOURS Story by BillA1  
Copyright August 2005

Disclaimer: The characters Batman, Green Lantern, Hawkgirl, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, Superman & Flash their respective secret identities are all owned by DC Comics. This story is intended for my own pleasure and is not for profit. It has been posted to this site for others to read. Places and characters not own by DC Comics are my own creation. The RUMOURS stories are a special collection of stories based on the lyrics from the 1977 Fleetwood Mac album of the same name. A special thanks to Merlin Missy for her beta on this story.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  
****TRAVIS PUTS AWAY HIS GUN – A RUMOURS STORY  
**Rating: (PG-13)  
Synopsis: Vixen, Green Lantern, the Flash, Old Yeller, Engarde  
**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

_I know you're hopin' to find  
__Someone who's gonna give you peace of mind  
__When times go bad, when time go rough  
__Won't you lay me down in the tall grass  
__And let me do my stuff? – Second Hand News – (L. Buckingham)_

**xxxxxxxxxxxxx**

(Two months before Shayera Hol kills Solomon Grundy)

He had _that_ look on his face; a look she'd seen before and didn't like. The look appeared on his face more often now. Most of the time he gave her that look when she displayed or referenced her ability to buy whatever she wanted when it struck her fancy.

She was a top fashion model and was paid well when she worked; and Mari Macabe worked whenever she wanted. She had a lifestyle before she met John and she intended to keep that lifestyle whether he stayed in her life or not. But she preferred he stay.

She wasn't sure how much Lanterns got paid each month.

_Do they get paid monthly? Weekly? Annually?_

Whatever it was, she knew it wasn't much in comparison to her own income. She knew his salary couldn't keep her in the lifestyle she'd grown to enjoy, but she also knew that she had to be careful not to give John the impression that he was a 'kept' man.

She smiled. She didn't want to, but she did anyway.

There were small conversations going on in the other parts of the cafeteria. John seemed to be distracted, as if he were listening to the chatter, even though the conversations weren't about them. _No. He's just not paying attention._

She leaned forward to touch his hands on the table as she gently fluttered her eyes and said softly, "But John, it would make me very happy."

He frowned and leaned back in his seat, leaving her with her arms outstretched across the large table. She leaned back as well. "No," he said. "I said no."

She took a deep breath and sighed loud enough for him to hear her. She smiled again at him. "John, it would get your mind off of here, off of work. Just think, a whole week biking through France. It would be fun." She slid around on the long bench seat so that she was on his right side, being careful not to get too close. Her voice softened as she added, "And I know some great places to stay. We could pick the bikes in London and cross the channel."

John rubbed the back of his neck with his ring hand and sighed. He looked into her face for a moment before looking back down at the table. "It's just a bad idea. I've got a sector to guard. Can't be biking all over Europe when I'm supposed to be minding the store. I mean, other planets in the sector. I mean -"

He stopped as if he realized how illogical what he'd just said sounded. John stood up. "Look," he said. "I'll see you this evening. We can see a movie or something and we can talk some more tonight, okay?" He smiled, but didn't wait for her to respond as he turned to leave.

"Okay, tonight," she called after him. _But Barcelona this weekend, John._

**xxxxxxxxxxxxx**

(The next day at the Watchtower cafeteria)

She had discovered one of the unwritten rules of the Justice League: 'Never take the Flash to lunch and tell him you're buying.' His ability to consume food was the stuff of legends, but she wanted answers and knew that the Flash was the most accessible of those who knew John. He wouldn't be a cheap date, but if she got the answers she needed, it would be worth it.

They headed to a corner table and sat down. His tray was piled with twenty, maybe thirty hamburgers and an equal number of orders of French fries. On her tray, she had a small salad, saltines, a strawberry Jell-O and water. The cashier shook her head when Mari told her she was paying for both lunches. Mari just smiled at the woman as she paid the tab. It was a smile that said, 'Yes, I know what I'm doing.'

They had been seated for about thirty seconds before the Flash picked up a burger in each hand and started eating. Mari was surprised that he waited that long, considering what she had been told about him before. She was astonished as a hamburger disappeared in his face in three bites.

Mari put on her best smile. "Can I ask you a question?"

The Flash frowned. "Depends on the question." He grabbed a handful of fries and shoved them into his mouth.

_Good Lord, man. Do you chew at all? _She kept smiling. "Okay," she said. "Did Green Lantern and Hawkgirl spend a lot of time in Europe?"

Flash had picked up another hamburger and was about to take a bite. He stopped. His eyes narrowed. "I don't think so, but you ought to ask GL." Suddenly he glared at her. "Hey, you didn't want to have lunch with me to pump me about GL, did you?"

Mari's smile widened. "Oh, no. I just thought that…" She stopped and frowned. "Yes, I did," she said as she looked down at her tray. "I figure since you've known him for such a long time maybe you knew something about why he didn't want to go to Europe? I suggested bicycle riding through France. He won't even talk about it." She opened her package of crackers and set them on her tray, then took a quick bite of her salad.

Flash shook his head. "I don't think I can fix this for you."

Mari glared at him. "Look, let's get this straight. I'm not asking you to fix anything. I just wanted to know if I broke some unwritten taboo with him when I suggested going to France." Her tone softened as she added, "I just thought you might know, that's all."

The Flash grinned. "Don't know a thing. Sometimes, I don't know the man at all." He paused then took a bite of his hamburger. "Well that's not true," he continued. "He can be pretty set in his ways when he wants to be. For example, when he found out that Kilowog accidentally ate his copy of _Old Yeller_, he went ballistic. Then, you know what? He went out and bought another copy that night. He didn't stop looking until he found a store that sold it."

Mari's eyes widened in surprise. "Old Yeller?" _John played that movie the first time I visited his apartment. I wonder what's so damn important about that movie he had to replace it._

Flash continued, "He sure was mad that night." Suddenly, Mari wondered if Hawkgirl had been the one to give John the movie. Maybe that's why it was so important to him. Maybe that was his link to her.

She smiled again. "Who's Kilowog? A bad guy?"

Flash chuckled. "He's not a bad guy, at all. He's a friend of ours, another Green Lantern, a funny guy who'll eat anything in front of him." Abruptly, he pointed to her saltines. "You gonna eat that?"

Mari's expression flattened. _Take it, but I'm keeping the Jello-O._ "Here," she said as she handed over the crackers. "So he got his movie, huh?"

"Yup," the Flash answered. He sighed as he looked over her tray, before grabbing another burger off his own. "Anyway," he said. "Can't help you about GL and Hawkgirl in France and all, but you know Lantern. With him, what you see is what you get." He paused as if he wanted to say something else and then thought better of it.

He furrowed his brow and stared toward the ceiling for a moment then back at her. "Bike riding, huh? You know, he flies everywhere he goes. I've never seen him in a car, let alone on a bike."

Mari took a sip of her water and then parroted. "Yeah, what you see is what you get." Suddenly, she had a thought she wasn't prepared for. _I wonder…if he ever had a bike as a child._

**xxxxxxxxxxxxx**

(Central Park, New York - 2:00 AM)

There was concern in Mari's voice when she called him on his commlink. She sounded like she was in trouble, he thought. It wasn't panic but she didn't sound 'right.' She'd only contacted him and had not sounded a general alarm. That made his concern even greater. He'd have to talk to her about that. _If you're in trouble, it doesn't matter who answers your call as long as someone does. _

As he broke out of the clouds and descended into the park, he could see her. She stood near one of the running paths and waved her arms when she saw him approach.

Stewart didn't land but instead hovered next to her. "What's up? You called about an emergency. What's going on?" He rapidly scanned the area, but didn't see anything in the shadows.

She moved over to one of the nearby trees and pointed. "It _is_ an emergency, Boo. I found these two bikes next to this tree and they really shouldn't be here. These bikes were made in France and I have to get them home. I don't think they have the proper documents to be here. See? Here." She smiled an impish smile as she handed him the papers. Her eyes twinkled.

Stewart landed next to her. He sighed loudly as he took the papers and looked at the two bicycles. The two bikes, a male and female bike, were both fire engine red.

His eyes narrowed. He knew what she was trying to do. "You just happened to find these two bikes, that just happened to have papers attached; papers that are in French."

Mari's eyes widened in surprise, probably from the rising anger in his voice, he would reflect later. She lowered her head. "Okay. No fooling you, is there John? I bought the bikes. But see, they were made in France and I think we –"

"Mari!" he bellowed. "This is not funny and it's unprofessional! I might have been needed elsewhere!"

She shook her head and returned his frown with a glare of her own. "Afraid not, Boo. J'onn told me you went off duty fifteen minutes ago. You're on your own personal time now and not scheduled for duty for four days and guess what? I'm not scheduled for duty for four days, either."

Stewart hoped she didn't notice the shocked look on his face. She had gone to a lot trouble to set this up.

He was suddenly amused at the thought of Mari hiding the bikes until he arrived. She had a lot of things going for her, he thought. And persistence was one of those things. Maybe, it was time for him to start saying 'yes' to her. Maybe, just maybe, it was time for him to say 'yes' to himself.

He smiled at her. "Hmmm. Wonder how that little scheduling detail happened to work out."

Mari frowned. "I dunno. I've heard that sometimes the work schedule can be _influenced_ for the price of a case or two of Oreos." She smirked as she continued, "I wouldn't know for sure, but I'm glad it worked out the way it did. So. Do you think these bikes should go back to France?"

Stewart faked a frown. "Doesn't matter what I think, does it? They're your bikes."

Mari stood next to Stewart and shook her head as she put her finger on his lips. "Don't talk like that again. They're _our_ bikes. Tell you what. I'll take the boy bike," she said as she threw her leg over the bar on the male bike. She looked up and gave Stewart a little wry grin. "Uh, oh, John. The boy bike says the girl bike is sad because no one is riding her. Why don't you get on the girl bike and we can see if that will make this boy bike happy."

Stewart rolled his eyes and tried to keep from laughing. He was able to hold his expression to a grin, a very wide grin. He took a deep breath. "We're going to make the boy bike happy, huh?" he said as he straddled the girl bike. He ringed an energy bubble around them and lifted off. "So where exactly in France are we heading?"

Mari grabbed his arm. "First, we need to go to the Barcelo Hotel Sant in Barcelona, Spain, so I can change. Then we can go to dinner at the Semproniana restaurant nearby. I've already made the reservations. Tomorrow we'll take the train to Marseille and bike around the Mediterranean for a couple of days."

Stewart looked at her with an amused expression and shook his head. "You had this all planned out didn't you?" _Of course you did._

Mari didn't say anything, but just smiled knowingly.

There was silence for a few moments. Then Stewart asked, "So tell me again exactly how did the boy bike tell you that the girl bike needed a rider?"

Mari laughed and squeezed his arm. "If you play your cards right, Boo, I'll explain it to you in great detail tonight – after dinner."

"After dinner," Stewart parroted as he increased the traveling speed of the bubble. He was looking forward to spending the next couple of days with Mari as he wondered what was on the room service breakfast menu.

END


End file.
